Synopsis

Marc Stevens’ world goes profoundly and utterly wrong. When his car breaks down in the middle of the isolated backcountry, he’s forced to seek refuge in a rural inn. Marc is taken in by Bartel, a lonely and psychologically fragile innkeeper who promises to help. But when Marc catches him dismantling his car, he realizes that the innkeeper has other plans for him.

Official Review

The story of Calvaire (English title: The Ordeal) works almost too well. With the darkness unrelenting, the fate of our main protaganist is much worse than that of the men of “Deliverance”, in that they have a chance to escape their wilderness, whereas in “Calvaire”, the woods hold a menace in their feeling of isolation and endlessness though the cinematography of Benoit Debie (Irreversible”), who manages to create a terrible beauty in all the outdoor scenes; it’s as if you’re seeing the woods through the eyes of an artist like Francis Bacon! …Read More